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Interview with Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA): Chinese Intelligence Aiding Iran Strikes on U.S. Targets; Top AI and Tech Leaders Attend White House State Dinner for Xi Jinping; Military Families Raise Alarm Over Trump Arch Observation Deck; Farm Aid Festival Supporting Farmers Airs Live Tomorrow at 7 p.m. Eastern. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired September 25, 2026 - 15:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[15:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: The meeting of the world's top two superpowers is now over. As Chinese President Xi Jinping heads back to China, he's planning more face-to-face time with President Trump later this year. And President Trump confirmed he will see Xi at the APEC summit in China in November and at the G20 in Miami in December.

As the two leaders exit on friendly terms, sources tell CNN about ways Chinese entities have been helping Iran. Four sources say Chinese groups provided intelligence and satellite pictures to help Iran target U.S. bases in the Middle East, including a strike in Jordan, you see it here, where three American troops were killed.

Let's turn now to Democratic Congressman Jake Auchincloss from Massachusetts. He is also a combat veteran. And I just want to ask you, first off, considering the Chinese Communist Party's grip on its society, do you differentiate between Chinese groups or entities versus the Chinese government helping Iran?

REP. JAKE AUCHINCLOSS (D-MA): Good afternoon. Thanks for having me on. In terms of the role of Chinese groups in cyberattacks on U.S. soil, in terms of the role of Chinese groups in aiding and equipping Iran or importing Russian oil or Iranian oil, no, absolutely not. This is all under the banner of the Chinese Communist Party, and Xi Jinping controls all of that, which begs the question, why is the United States President rolling out a red carpet for Xi Jinping, doing a 21- gun salute, having an elaborate state dinner, when he's belligerent towards the United States? The answer is because diesel is $6.50 a gallon, and Xi Jinping could make it go up to $8 if he decided to import more oil. So it's a failure of America First foreign policy, that's for sure, because it's controlled by China.

KEILAR: Secretary Hegseth told the Senate in a public hearing back in July that China was enabling Iran in the war. Less than two weeks ago, the president was asked about a Wall Street Journal report about Chinese entities sharing these satellite images of U.S. bases with Iran, and Trump said, quote, "When they say that China spies on us, I say you're right and we spy on them too." What is that message that he's sending to China when he is saying that? AUCHINCLOSS: Weakness. He sent the same message to Putin and to Xi Jinping, which is one of appeasement and weakness. We've got to wind this clock back by a year.

So last year, Donald Trump wages a trade war against China. He loses it. Why does he lose it?

Because China exercised chokepoint control over critical minerals, and Donald Trump had to pull back. So then in 2026, Donald Trump launches a hot war against Iran. He loses it.

Why? Because Iran exercised chokepoint control over the Strait of Hormuz. And so now the U.S. president is very weak, and in this weakened position he is welcoming Xi Jinping, who holds the whip hand over the price of diesel here in the United States. This president is ceding our energy sovereignty to America's pacing adversary in the 21st century, and he's doing so while having the United States Navy do a celebratory flyover.

[15:35:00]

KEILAR: On AI, there are many ideas that are kind of floating around Congress when it comes to regulating AI. Not really at the White House. The president's not really a fan of it.

He does, though, respond to what voters want, and the polls are pretty clear that they want regulation. Are Democrats equipped to lead on this if they win the House? Can they work with Trump and Republicans to get something done?

AUCHINCLOSS: Yes. We already have the bipartisan Deepfake Liability Act, which I wrote, which would hold these big tech firms liable for harms caused by their frontier models. We need to also have rules of the road for auditing, for transparency, and for regulation around these frontier models that looks like the Bipartisan Frontier Act.

We need to ensure that our educational system and our economic system is equipped for what is going to be the disruptive deployment of this general-purpose technology. Democrats are ready on these fronts. We're ready to work across the aisle.

Doesn't need to be a partisan issue. This can be a collaborative issue, but it can only be a collaborative issue if it's very clear that we are doing this on behalf of the middle class, not on behalf of Meta. Regrettably, that is how the Republican caucus has treated this issue to date.

KEILAR: You recently introduced a bill to hold the Chinese Communist Party responsible for its role in the fentanyl crisis here in the U.S. The administration says it's incredibly concerned about the drugs that come into the U.S. We've, of course, seen the high-profile strikes, video of which they put out on alleged drug boats. What should the president have talked with Xi about when it comes to China's role in America's drug crisis?

AUCHINCLOSS: About two dozen Chinese petrochemical manufacturers account for something like 98 percent of all of the active pharmaceutical ingredients that go into fentanyl, killing tens of thousands of Americans every year. I said this two years ago when I first introduced this bill. I'm saying it again now.

There really are two critical asks of China. One is stop exporting fentanyl to the United States. The second is stop importing Iranian oil.

This president has catastrophically failed on both fronts, such that China continues to surge fentanyl into the United States, and China's importation of Iranian oil has now become a critical factor in its ability to decide what price Americans pay for diesel going into wintertime.

KEILAR: You voted recently against tabling the impeachment resolution that was brought by Al Green. Leader Jeffries, your whip, caucus chair, they voted present on the motion, so Democratic leadership saying, none of the serious work of impeachment has been done, including investigation, review of documents, and scrutiny of the facts. Do you think that it was done, has been done?

AUCHINCLOSS: Listen, I voted to impeach this president once before. I think he has committed high crimes and misdemeanors. I also recognize that if and when Democrats take back power, that Americans want to see us first and foremost prioritize the price of health care, the price of housing, the price of energy.

And second, they want to see us be able to hold to account the most corrupt and incompetent administration in history. I think priority number one there should be Pete Hegseth. His actions as Secretary of Defense have made America less secure.

He's misled the American public about the scope, duration, and execution of this war, and I think he needs to go.

KEILAR: But voting against tabling an impeachment resolution, I mean, that's, it's serious business, right? And I wonder if it's something that needs to be approached with a lot of thought and careful deliberation about the work that leads up to it.

AUCHINCLOSS: Absolutely, and that's what you're going to see from Democrats when we take back the gavels next Congress is we're going to introduce this administration to the concept of due process, which is to say lay the facts on the table, compare the facts against the law, and then hold individuals accountable for violation of the law according to those facts. And we can do so rigorously across all branches of government. As I said, I think we should start with Hegseth, shouldn't stop there.

KEILAR: But when you vote against tabling the impeachment resolution, is that, you know, do you think that shows that there's been enough deliberation and all of those precursor steps that need to be done?

AUCHINCLOSS: No, I think it represents the voice of my constituents in feeling like this is the most corrupt administration in history, and they want that remonstrated on the House floor. They also want to see when we actually have the gavels, when we have the ability to call witnesses, when we have subpoena power and we can do our business in the majority, that we methodically go through this government and root out corruption. And we can do that across the cabinet.

[15:40:00]

As I said, Hegseth, number one. I think RFK Jr., number two. What he has done with his anti-vax agenda, with his grifting on the MAHA Incorporated movement, I think bears a lot of scrutiny.

KEILAR: Congressman Jake Auchincloss, thanks for being with us.

AUCHINCLOSS: Good afternoon.

KEILAR: Ahead, why military families say they're concerned about the new direction for President Trump's proposed triumphal arch near Arlington National Cemetery. First though, meet this week's CNN hero, a pioneer in conservation who is helping both gorillas and their human neighbors in Uganda.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. GLADYS KALEMA-ZIKUSOKA, FOUNDER, CONSERVATION THROUGH PUBLIC HEALTH: Bwindi Impenetrable National Park is home to 43 percent of the world's indigenous mountain gorillas. Bwindi is threatened by a lot of high human population growth. There's a lot of interaction between the gorillas and the people.

We used to find that people were not hygienic. Gorillas are picking up preventable diseases, basically. And this made me realize that you couldn't protect the gorillas without improving the health of their human neighbors.

We started the village health and conservation team approach in 2007. They do a lot of good work promoting health and hygiene practices. And now we're reaching over 10,000 households.

You can make each other sick, but we're not making each other sick because you're cleaner.

Over time, we have seen huge changes, having a clean toilet, hand washing station, a separate animal house. At the same time, we want to make sure that they're less dependent on the forest by finding them sustainable livelihoods.

You cannot keep the gorillas healthy when people next to them are poor, hungry. It just can't work. We found out that the coffee farmers were not getting a fair market price and were still entering the forest to poach.

So then we started to sell the coffee. We give them an above market price and a donation from every bag goes to support community health, gorilla health and conservation education. This is showing people that we care about not just the gorillas, but we also care about them.

Gorilla tourism has completely transformed the lives of the people here. And engaging local communities is a way of making sure that gorillas are being protected. I always get very excited when I hear that baby mountain gorilla has been born.

And as long as the communities see the gorillas as their future, the numbers are going to keep growing.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[15:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Military families are raising new concerns about the president's proposed Triumphal Arch near Arlington National Cemetery.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Veterans and Gold Star families say they are alarmed over plans to possibly add an open air observation deck, which wasn't part of the original design. CNN Washington correspondent Sunlen Serfaty is here with the new report. And Sunlen, what are these families sharing with you?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, there are about 24 to 27 military funerals every weekday at Arlington. So this is a significant concern to Gold Star families and veterans throughout the nation. And in speaking with these families, there's a feeling that this new observation deck that's 166 feet off the ground, the fifth floor of the president's proposed arch, it will overlook Arlington National Cemetery.

And there's a feeling that that's intrusive to their privacy, especially the fact that you have many funerals, multiple funerals going on every day at Arlington. And these are funerals that are highly choreographed, every detail, very precise to, of course, treat the fallen veterans with utmost respect and care. So the families worried about this, concerned how what this will mean for funerals.

I want to read you what one veteran told me. He says, "Why the hell would somebody put an observation deck on top of this arch? What do you want to observe?

People's grief, the solemn private nature of the ceremony is gone. If people can stand on top of this 250 foot vanity project with a pair of binoculars and look at what's going on in Arlington."

Another woman told me quote, "It's just the wrong place to put a vantage point because this is very much seeing people on the worst day of their life. I can't imagine if some observers were behind us doing a phone video of this." And that was a woman who lost her father in law and laid him to rest just only last year. And she said it just puts a pit in her stomach to think of someone observing her in this moment of grief.

Now, I pose these questions and this criticism to the White House and said, is there anything that you all will do? Noting that there are many funerals that will be taking place below the arch when and if it gets built. The White House did not respond to those specific questions, but they did say, according to White House spokesperson, that they believe that the arch will, quote, "... enhance the visitor experience at Arlington National Cemetery for veterans, the families of the fallen and all Americans life alike."

And we do know, according to documents in the planning, that there are some considerations that they have talked about as far as the construction phase of the arch. They say during the construction time, they'll control some of the lighting. They will stop down on construction when funerals are happening nearby.

But to the larger point, if this arch does indeed go on to be built, will there be any long term changes, coordination between Arlington National Cemetery and the tourism that's taking place at the arch? That's still an open question.

KEILAR: They plan to stop down during funerals. That's going to be tough. I mean, you can see how that can get mixed up. No doubt.

How are families responding to the president saying that the arch would also serve as a military complex with drones and snipers?

[15:50:00]

SERFATY: A lot of confusion. A lot of people we spoke to for this article we had talked to last week. And then with the surprise announcement over the weekend that the president would turn it into a military complex.

Those people got in touch with us and said, I'm really confused by this announcement. This doesn't really seem like at all what he has proposed in the past and has been through many planning phases. One person saying this is getting a little ridiculous. They say that this is that we can't just have these wild changes that distract what's important from the actually surviving families.

There's been so much sensitivity and controversy about this arch being so close to Arlington Cemetery. So many of these families feel like it's insult to injury.

KEILAR: Sunlen, thank you so much. Great reporting. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: CNN is once again partnering with Farm Aid this year to bring the annual music festival to a nationwide audience.

[15:55:00]

The star studded event raises money to support family farms. And right now that help is needed more than ever. The festival kicks off this Saturday at 7 p.m. and it's being headlined by a few artists you may have heard of -- Willie Nelson and family Neil Young, Dave Matthews. And of course, back again, the one and only Margo Price. Her debut album, Midwest Farmer's Daughter, is exactly what she is. Price grew up on a family farm before losing their land during the American farm crisis of the 1980s.

Margo Price joins us now ahead of her big performance this weekend. Margo, thank you so much for being with us. Let's start with the fun. What can folks expect this year?

MARGO PRICE, MUSICIAN: They can expect a night of music that is so diverse. So many generations, so many genres coming together to celebrate family farmers. And we've got everybody from Mike Campbell, from the Heartbreakers, of course, Neil and Willie and John Mellencamp and the usual suspects.

And then we've got a lot of incredible new talents here. Sierra Ferrell, Jesse Wells, Amythyst Kiah. That's going to be a lot of fun.

SANCHEZ: And I understand that you have a tribute plan to someone who is very special that we lost recently, right?

PRICE: How did you know? I'm going to be singing Dolly Parton songs. That's exactly right.

SANCHEZ: Well, we are excited to hear that. Obviously, a worthwhile tribute to someone who meant so much to so many. And Farm Aid itself means a lot to farmers.

Help us understand how it helps folks around the country.

PRICE: Well, Farm Aid really has been ahead of its time. I think we're reaching this precipice where people are really worried about food safety. You know, it's important to know where your food comes from more than ever with, you know, the lettuce recalls and the blueberry recalls.

And Farm Aid really has been so instrumental in being able to get grants and distribute them to people who might not normally get them. You know, I think there's just so many preconceived notions about who farms and farmers all across America come from different cultural backgrounds, different races, different genders. And I think Farm Aid has just really opened my eyes to see kind of who typically gets grants and who typically gets money when it comes from the government.

And so we really try to spread it out equally.

SANCHEZ: Yes. And you know this cause very well. You're a Farm Aid board member, as well as a Midwest farmer's daughter.

So, you know, the pain that a lot of folks are experiencing right now, it's not breaking news that costs are up, the price of diesel at a record high. How do the needs of farmers this year compare to when this event was held just a year ago?

PRICE: I think it's getting more and more dire, and, you know, we're not at a point where we just need to talk about things we need action. And, you know, I think this administration and all past administrations as well, we just haven't been putting family farmers first. People are, you know, not really aware what factory farms are doing and when we're outsourcing meat, we're getting meat from different countries.

You know, I think it's dangerous on a lot of levels. And so, yes, Farm Aid has been there since the year that my family farm disappeared, which was 1985. I was just two years old, and I saw the impact that that had on my family, you know, forever.

And so it's really full circle to be able to be on the board and be able to give back a bit.

SANCHEZ: And speaking of giving back, how can folks that can lend a hand help?

PRICE: So, of course, come to the concert if you can, if you're going to be in Virginia Beach. But if not, Farm Aid is working year round behind the scenes. There's so many people that are there day in, day out doing the work.

And you can always donate just a small amount, buy a T-shirt from the website. Every little bit helps. Every little bit does.

SANCHEZ: Margo Price, thank you so much for your work and for joining us as well. We look forward to the concert.

PRICE: Thank you, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Of course, my pleasure. Don't miss all these legendary artists all on one stage. Farm Aid on CNN with performances by Willie Nelson and family and many, many more. It begins Saturday at 7 p.m. on CNN, streaming live as well with an all access subscription.

It's hosted by my friends, Laura Coates and John Berman, so do not miss it.

Thank you so much for joining us this afternoon. "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts in just a few seconds.

END